Dartmouth Is Part of New Initiative for Women in Science

Dartmouth Now

September 27, 2012

By Keith Chapman

Dartmouth is one of 60 colleges and universities that have signed on to participate in WitsOn. A new pilot program, WitsOn, which stands for Women in Technology Sharing Online, provides an Internet forum for students to connect with female mentors in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

WitsOn supports the initiative Equal Futures Partnership (EFP), launched by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The United States, along with 12 other founding member nations and nine leaders from U.S. based organizations, started EFP with the goal for “women to participate fully in public life and to lead and benefit from inclusive economic growth.”

For six weeks this fall, WitsOn will contribute to EFP’s mission by providing an online forum where students in the sciences can directly contact successful women in these fields. Students are encouraged to ask questions about careers, family, faith, and community. Mentors, who range in occupation from astronauts to university presidents to business executives, will be able to respond to these questions via video.